Rail anchor



Aug. 8, I R w G RAIL ANCHOR Filed Jan. '7, 1953 Patented Aug. 8, 1933 PATENT F CE RAIL ANCHOR Robert T. W0odings, 0akmont, Pa., assignor to Woodings-Verona Tool Works, Verona, Pa., a Corporation-0f Pennsylvania Application January 7. 1933. Serial no. 650,627 5 Claims. (01. 238-321") My invention relates .to rail anchors such as are commonly employed in railway track construction and maintenancefor the purpose of preventing rails from creeping. with .respect to their supports.

In the employment of rail anchors, such for example as anticreeping devices, it is necessary to provide means for preventing the disengagement of the anchors after they have been placed in position to suitably clamp the flange of the base of the rail for preventing longitudinal movement of the latter. Many of the anticreeping devices of the prior art have embodied structures for clamping both flanges at the base of the rail in order that the anchor might be securely and permanently fastened to the rail. Such structures have been somewhat complicated and considerablematerial and labor are involved in their construction.

Other rail anchors have included threaded portions with nuts thereon for causing them to clamp the rails and in some cases springs have been employedfor this purpose." Constant vibration of the rails may cause the nuts to become loose upon the screw-threaded portions of the anchors and it has been diflicult to provide springs that are sufliciently strong for the purpose intended and that .are within the limits of ordinary cost for devices of this character.

In accordance with the present invention I provide a rail anchor that is relatively simple in construction, that may be formed from a single piece of plate'material, and that iseasily and quickly locked in position after it has been placed in clamping engagement with the rail. The rail anchor of the present application is intended to be employed in connection with tie plates having shoulders extending above the flanges of the base of the rail, and the anchor includes an integral piece of material that may be bent downwardly into locking engagement with one of the shoulders of the tie plate in order to permanently and securely fasten the anchor in positionin clamping engagement upon the rail.

The details of my invention will be described in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a plan view of a portion of a rail and certain of the supporting structures therefor and with an anchor of my invention applied thereto; Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical sectional View of the apparatus of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of the rail anchor shown in operative position in Figs. land 2; and'Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a modified form of rail anchor.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawing, a rail 1 issupported upon a tie plate 2 that is secured to the top of. across tie 3 by the usual spikes 4. As best shown in Fig. 2 the tie plate 2 is provided adjacent the .outer edges of theflanges of the base of the rail with shoulders 5 which project somewhat above the tops of the flanges.

A rail anchor 6, which is shown in enlarged detail in .Fig. 3, comprises a body portion 765 in the form of a flat plate -.member that is provided at one end thereof with a tapered notch 8 that corresponds substantially to a portion of the cross section of a flange of the base of the rail 1. The projecting portions of the plate member on the respective sides of the tapered notch 8 constitute jaws 9 and 10 for respectively clamping .the upper and the lower sides of a flange of the rail .base..

Integral with the upper jaw 9 is a projecting member 11 that when formed extends. in the plane of the body portion, but which has been bent downwardly to extend transversely to the plane of the body portion and is adapted for a purpose to be hereinafter described. The body portion 7 is also provided with a rear: ward extension 12 which may be struck with a hammer or other suitable tool to drive the anchor 6 into wedging or clamping engagement with the flange of the rail base.

Itmay be assumed that a rail is supported in the manner shown and described in connection with Figs. 1 and 2, and that it'is desiredto apply the anchor 6 to prevent creeping of the rail with respect to the tie plate 2 and the cross tie 3. The anchor 6 is placed closely adjacent one side of the tie plate with the lower jaw:

10 extending from the bottom of therail downwardly along the side of the cross tie 3,

the widthof the jaw being considerably greater than the thickness of the tie plate, as shown in dotted lines, Fig. 2. The anchor 6 maybe driven into rigid clamping engagement with the flange of the base by means of a suitable tool, such for example, as the usual spike maul employed by railway workmen.

When the anchor 6 has been driven into a position in which it rigidly clamps the flange of the rail, the projecting member 11 which may be termed the locking member, is bent downwardly until its outer end engages the top of the flange of the rail and the edge of this outer end portion engages the inneredge of the shoulder 5 of the tie plate 2 that is adja cent the anchor 6, as clearly shown in Fig. 2.

It will be noted from an inspection of Fig. 3 that the outer end of the locking member 11 is tapered for the purpose of conforming to the'inclined upper surface of the rail flange.

The locking member 11 is of such cross section as to constitute a rigid locking means for securingthe anchor 6 in its clamping position on the rail and the anchor will operate to prevent creeping of the rail in the direction of the arrow, Fig. 1, which will actuate the anchor 6 against the adjacent tie plate 2.

Referring to Fig. 4, the modified rail anchor 13 shown therein difiers from that of Fig. 3 only in the shape of its locking member 14,

and like reference numerals'designate like parts.

The latter is curved or looped at an intermediate portion and is of somewhat greater length than the member 11 of Fig. 3. The member 14is bent into position by hammering the top of the loop portion. When it is bent downwardly the tapered side of the end portion thereof, shown at ,15, is in engagement with the flange of the rail and its outer edge will be in engagement with the adjacent shoulder 5 of the tie plate 2.

When the modified form of rail anchor is in position and the locking member 14 has been bent into locking engagement with the tie plate 5, it operates in the same manner as the anchor 6 to prevent the disengagement of the anchor, except that the engaging portion of the locking member 14 is longer'than that of the locking member 11.

The advantages of the rail anchor of my invention are that it is of extremely simple construction and in method of application, its parts are integral and may be formed by simple punching and bending operations from' plate material of uniform thickness. There are no relatively movable parts which may get out of adjustment by reason of vibration such as may becaused by the passing of trains. When the anchor isin position the locking means therefor rigidly retains the anchor in engagement with the rail and the anchor will not be released'therefrom except when the locking member has been positively disengaged from the tie plate. a

The foregoing and other advantages will be apparent to those skilled in the art of constructing and maintaining tracks of railway and similar constructions.

I claim;

1. A rail anchor comprising a member having a tapered notch therein to form jaws for wedging engagement with the base of a rail seated upon a tie plate, said tie plate having a shoulder extending above the edge of the rail base, and said member having integral therewith a projecting portion for bending into locking engagement with the shoulder of said tie plate for retaining said member in engaging position.

2. A rail anchor comprising a member having rigid jaws with relatively inclined surfaces for engaging the flange of the base of a rail that is seated upon a tie plate, said tie plate having a shoulder extending above the rail base, and one of said jaws having integral therewith a projecting element that is adapted to be bent transversely to said member into locking engagement with the inner side of the adjacent shoulder of said tie plate for preventing movement of said member outwardly from said rail.

3. A rail anchor comprising two integral jaw members adapted to clamp the flange on one side of a rail base adjacent a tie plate therefor, said tie plate having a shoulder projecting above the rail base, a member integral with said jaw members adapted for bending downward transversely of the jaws substantially into engagement with said flange and into locking engagement with the projecting portion of said shoulder of said tie plate for preventing the disengagement of said jaws from their clamping position.

4. A rail anchor comprising a-fiat body portion having two rigid jaw members for clamping the flange of the base of a rail adjacent to a tie plate for supporting the rail upon a cross tie, said tie plate having a shoulder projecting above said flange, the lower of said jaw members being of such width as to engage the tie plate, and a projecting member extending transversely from the upper of said jaw members for bending downwardly behind the inner surface of the shoulder on said tie plate.

A rail anchor formed from plate metal comprising jaws adapted to be driven onto the tapered base of a rail adjacent a tie plate, the tie plate having a shoulder adjacent to' and extending above the edge of the rail base, the anchor having a tongue adapted to be bent down behind said shoulder and so to lock the anchor in clamped position on the rail base, and the lower jaw of the-anchor being adapted to abut the tie plate to restrict creepage of the rail.

ROBERT T. WOODINGS. 

